A Fresh Start
by glittergal
Summary: What happens to Carter when a new med student arrives in the ER
1. Default Chapter

A Fresh Start  
  
Author: Glittergal  
E-mail: snow_bunnie_12@hotmail.com  
Category: What happens to Carter when a new med-student arrives in the ER  
Spoilers: none  
Disclaimer: I do not own ER or any of it's characters they're not my property!  
  
What a horrible night! She had just flown into Chicago and now it was pouring rain. It had been a long day and tomorrow she was going to start an ER rotation at Cook County General. She had not wanted to leave home but this was her best bet. Things at home were just way too confusing and she wanted to get away from it all. She wanted to be independent, to not always rely on someone, and this was her chance. Memories of last night swept past her.  
"Why didn't you tell me this before. I thought we had something special. Now you tell me we have to wait another two years to be together!"  
"I'm sorry. I never ment to hurt you. I love you. I just...," she said in between sobs.  
"You just what, huh? Look I don't think this is working out. Maybe another time. You'll find the right guy soon but it won't be me," and he left her there with one gentle kiss.  
That had been last night. She dreaded the fight with her boyfriend Nick but he was right. He wasn't the right guy. He didn't understand her or how she felt. Now the only thing that she had left was her new rotation tomorrow that she was still unsure of.  
The cab pulled up to an apartment building. So this was where she would be staying. Not bad. It looked just like the ones back home. She got out of the cab and got her luggage, rounded the corner and WHAM! Straight into something. It had so much force that it knocked her onto the ground into a puddle that had been produced by the rain.  
"Hey! Watch it!" yelled a tall man grumpily. He had dark brown hair gelled at the top and was wearing a long coat. he looked not more than in his late 20's.  
"Me?! Why don't you watch where you're going! I'm the one who got thrown into the puddle," she shot back outraged while covered in mud. At that remark he started to back off.  
"Sorry!" he said hastily and ran off. Cassandra thought are all men in Chicago like this? What the hell was wrong with that guy anyways? She soon settled down in her apartment and became sleepy, hopefully things would be better tomorrow.  
  
**********************************************  
  
John Carter was in the worst of his moods. He had overslept his alarm clock and was now late for work. Grabbing his clothes, he dressed quickly and ran out the door. He hated to think what Kerry would say to him. Well he didn't have to wait long for that.  
"Carter! You're late again!" she yelled as he rushed in the ambulance bay.  
"I'm... sorry Kerry.... I," he didn't have time to finish.  
"I expected better from you Carter,"  
"I'm sorry."  
"Well what are you waiting for? The cow to jump over the moon? Get to work! You have patients to see. You'll have to stay over time to make up for the time you lost," Kerry lectured  
"But..." Carter sputtered nearly blushing now at the small crowd of nurses that had gathered to watch the scene.  
"No buts! Get to work!" and she left.  
"Nice one Carter! What a way to start a shift. What did you do to make her so mad?" smirked Dave.  
"None of your business,"  
"Well then, must be the red hair of hers. Wouldn't want to get in her way!"  
"MALUCCI! Get to work NOW!" screamed Kerry.  
"Uh, sure thing chief!" and he scrambled off. This was just the beginning. How was he going to survive the ER. He hated doing the graveyard shift? It made him feel like a vampire. Well only 12 more hours to go. 12 more hours too long.  
  
********************************************************  
Mark Greene was sitting at the admit desk talking to Elizabeth. It had been a slow might. Although there wee patients none of them were his. He was bored out of his mind so he started to tell lame jokes.  
"So Elizabeth, how do you get the caramel into the caramilk bar?"  
"What?" she asked busily doing charts. She loved Mark but sometimes he puzzled her with his questions.  
"It's just a joke."  
All of a sudden an attractive young lady with dark hair wearing a Roots shirt walked in through the ambulance doors.  
"Um. Excuse me. I'm looking for Mark Greene ER attending," she spoke nervously.  
"You got 'em"  
"Uh, hi. My name's Cassandra Cartwright. I'm a med student here to do my ER rotation."  
"Ah I heard we were getting a new med student. Welcome to the ER. I'll show you around and get you started," he offered a smile. He remembered how nervous a med student he had been on his first day.  
"It's kind of slow around here this morning but come lunch time patients will be flooding in. So where you from?"  
"Uh Toronto," she said trying to follow him through the hall without bumping into anything, "Actually a small town just outside of it."  
"Oh so you're a Canadian, EH?  
"Uh, Yeah..." she didn't know what to say to that remark. She didn't know where he was taking her.  
"Don't worry. I'm just fooling around." she gave a faint smile  
"Well here we are. The Lounge. This is where you can put your stuff."  
It was a neat room with lockers, couches and tables. Two doctors were sitting with their backs to her drinking coffee.  
"Ah. Let me introduce you to Dr. Malucci and Dr. Carter. This is our new med student Cassandra Cartwright."  
The shorter one turned around first and smiled. he held out his hand and she shook it.  
"Hey nice to meet you. Just call me Dr. Dave," he smiled even more at the sight of her.  
At that moment the other doctor turned around and looked at her. He wastaller and had dark brown hair and puppy dog eyes.  
"Oh my god!" she suddenly realized, "Remember you!"  
Carter suddenly remembered and turned beet red. Dave and Mark only gave each other quizzical looks.  
...to be continued  
  
Well how do you like it? It's my first fanfic so please review.  



	2. Have I Met You Before?

Have I Met You Before?  
author: glittergal  
e-mail: snow_bunnie_12@hotmail.com  
Category: ER Part 2. Follow up to my story A Fresh Start so you should read it first not to get confused. What happens to Carter when a new med student comes into the ER.  
spoilers: none  
disclaimer: I don't own ER or any of it's characters. They're not my property.  
  
Previously on ER:  
"Oh my god!" she suddenly realized. "I remember you"  
Carter suddenly remembered and started turning beet red. Dave and Mark only gave each other puzzled looks.  
****************************************************************  
"I take it you know each other then?" Mark asked  
"Yeah Carter, how do you know this chick?" Malucci wondered.   
Before he had time to answer Cassandra took over. " Yeah we know each other alright. He's the guy who pushed me into the mud last night!" she explained angrily  
"I didn't push you. I accidently bumped into you." Carter protested.  
"Sure whatever. Was falling into a puddle in your mind an accident?!"  
"No, but I..."  
All of a sudden the door opened, interrupting Carter, and Chuni came in. "Double MVA coming in auto vs. pedestrian. ETA 5min."  
"Alright everyone back to work," Mark ordered, "Cassandra come with me."  
"I like this girl. She has attitude." Dave whispered to Carter.   
"Oh Malucci grow up!" Carter yelled as he ht Dave.  
"Hey just a joke. Don't have to get so serious."   
Two minutes later they rolled the gurney into trauma 2. A young man in his late teens was bleeding non-stop and had a bad head wound. Dr. Cater and Dr. Dave were in the other room working on another victim.   
"Chuni get some o-neg. Malik get a line going. Ms. Cartwright start compressions he's breaking down!" Mark commanded while putting in a chest tube. The sight of all of the blood startled Cassandra with every compression she did on the man's chest. She wasn't used to this hands on approach.  
"We got a rhythm. Let's get him up to the OR. Good work people."  
  
*****************************************************  
An hour later after a tour of the ER and lots of introductions none of which she could remember she was ready to start her first case.  
"Okay, introduce yourself, get a history, and asses the situation, then report back to me for treatment, there's a free bed in Exam 4 you can take it," instructed Dr. Greene.   
She picked up a chart and headed towards the waiting area.  
"Um is there a Danny Stewart here?"  
A little boy with a pale face stood up with his mother and headed towards her.  
"Hi. I'm Cassandra Cartwright...." all of a sudden the boy puked right in front of her getting some on her pants.  
Mark looked up from the admit desk and laughed, "Uh... I'm sorry I should have warned you. That happens a lot with the flu cases."  
"Ugh. Thanks for the warning. Kind of late don't you think? And these were new pants too!" she said disgusted.  
"Here, I'll take care of this. You go grab a pair of scrubs and then start suturing on Mr. Edwards in the suture room."  
The supply room was a dark and small room filled with shelves of equipment. A woman was standing there getting supplies.  
"Hi. You're the new med-student right? My name's Jing-Mei Chen."  
"Cassandra Cartwright. Nice to meet you. You wouldn't happen to know where the scrubs are do you? A kid puked on me."  
"I can see that. They're over here. First day, eh? Don't worry you'll get used to it. Once I got puked on 3 times in a day. Well see you around."  
"See you. Thanks" she tried to smile this wasn't what she had expected.  
  
*********************************************************  
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" asked Mr. Edwards nervously.  
"Yeah of course I do. No. I'll go get another doctor." she regretted doing this. It was a chance to show that she could do something without someone instructing her but she had no clue where to start suturing and she didn't want to put the patient in anymore pain. She ran out into the hall to find Dr. Greene but no one was there except for Dr. Carter sitting at a desk doing paperwork.  
"What the hell. It's worth a shot," she muttered under her breath.  
"Excuse me. Uh Dr. Carter can you help me?" she asked timidly.  
He swung around in his chair looking annoyed it was her and yet at the same time sympathetic.  
"Sure what's up?" he asked  
"Um, I need help suturing. It's not like I don't know how it's just that I never done it on a real person before," she explained.  
"Then on a dummy?" he asked slightly amused.  
"Excuse me?!" she was getting angry at how he started to make fun of her.  
"Never mind that I'll show you how," and they headed into the suture room.  
...to be continued  
  
Well how did you like it? Excuse my medical terms I'm just making this up as I go. Be a responsible reader and review!  



	3. Getting to Know You

Getting to Know You  
  
disclaimer: I don't own ER or any of it's characters. They're not my property.  
  
Previously on ER  
A new med-student comes into the ER and causes some misunderstandings with Dr. Carter.  
****************************************************  
"There. That's how it's done. Now you try," Carter instructed patiently.  
"Like this?" asked Cassandra while threading a needle through skin.  
"That's it," he was impressed with how quickly she had learned, "Just remember what I told you and remember to irrigate first."  
"Irrigate first, gotcha," she repeated.  
"Okay, think you could finish up here? I got more paper work to do." he asked  
"Yeah, thanks for your help." she smiled. It was the first time that they'd acted civilized together.  
"Okay, call me if you need me." and he walked out the door. Her smile had put him in a better mood and doing a double shift for Cleo didn't feel as bad yet he couldn't help feeling guilty. He vowed to himself that after Lucy he would never get involved with another med student again. He had made no exception for Rena. It had hurt too much. It had taken all of his strength to stop blaming himself for Lucy's death. Hell he even got addicted to drugs. There was no way he'd ever go back to that. He wanted to move forward not back.  
********************************************************  
After a full day in the ER Cassandra felt like dropping dead. She never knew how much work it was. First there was the bloody trauma, then the kid that puked on her, then getting up the courage to ask Dr. Carter for help, after that Dr. Malucci accidently mixed up the labs and she had to help him resort them for the better half of the afternoon, then to top it all off a horny man needing sutures kept staring at her chest all the while she was suturing. It had taken a lot of nerve to not smack him across the face. And then with ten minutes to go until the end of her shift, Haleh asked her to take urine samples up to the lab. Not the kind of day she would've planned.  
Just as she was about to head out the door Kerry Weaver called out to her. Cassandra turned around and Kerry saw the look on her face.  
"Hey don't worry I'm not gonna stop you I just wanted to give you these," she said as she handed Cassandra a stack of papers and booklets a ft. high.  
"What are these for?" she asked moving her hands trying not to drop them.  
"Oh just some guidelines and rules to the ER. Read them and learn 'em. I'll give you a quiz tomorrow."  
She barely had time to think as Kerry swiftly limped away.  
"Okay. Was she serious?" she wondered out loud.  
"Oh dead serious, she never kids around," answered Randi in between chewing her gum.  
"Oh great just what I needed."  
************************************************  
It was her first time riding the El. This morning she had taken a taxi and she knew she'd have to stop because of her budget. She had asked one of the nurses for directions to Parkland St. where her apartment was. He had told her it was a 20 minute ride on the El. He didn't tell her which way it was though. It had taken her a full half hourto realize she was going the wrong way. Shit how stupid could I be she thought. Can't even get on the right train. She rode back to the station the ER was located on and waited for the right El to transfer on. As soon as it came she rushed to get on it when suddenly she collided into another person and fell down. Her papers started to fly everywhere and the El soon pulled out of the station.   
...to be continued  
  
Did you like it? Please review.  



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